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2023 Navy Midshipmen football
Conference	American Athletic Conference
Record	5–7 (4–4 AAC)
Head coach	Brian Newberry (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Grant Chesnut (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Triple option
Defensive coordinator	P. J. Volker (1st season)
Base defense	4–2–5
Home stadium	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium
Seasons← 20222024 →

The 2023 Navy Midshipmen football team represented the United States Naval Academy in the 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Midshipmen played their home games at Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland, and competed in the American Athletic Conference (The American). They were led by first-year head coach Brian Newberry. The Navy Midshipmen football team drew an average home attendance of 30,804 in 2023.

Offseason

Coaching changes

With Newberry taking over as head coach, there were several other coaching changes. On December 20, 2022, the Midshipmen promoted linebackers coach P. J. Volker to defensive coordinator while remaining linebackers coach. On January 5, 2023, the school hired Grant Chesnut to be the offensive coordinator. He held the same position at Kennesaw State for eight years. On January 9, Eric Lewis was named the school's safeties coach and defensive pass game coordinator; Brenten Wimberly was also named a defensive assistant.

Schedule

Navy and the American Athletic Conference (AAC) announced the 2023 football schedule on February 21, 2023.

1. 38,803 is the highest all-time attendance record at Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, breaking the previous record of 38,792 set on October 7, 2017, vs Air Force.

Game summaries

vs Notre Dame (Emerald Isle Classic), (rivalry)

at Aviva Stadium • Dublin, Ireland

• Date: August 26th
• Game time: 2:30 p.m. EST
• Game weather: Temperature: 59 °F (15 °C) • Weather: Rainy/Cloudy
• Game attendance: 49,000
• Referee: Luke Richman
• TV announcers (NBC): Noah Eagle (play-by-play), Jason Garrett (color commentator), Zora Stephenson (sideline reporter), and Terry McAulay (rules analyst)

vs Wagner (FCS)

at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, Maryland

• Date: September 9th
• Game time: 3:30 p.m. EST
• Game weather: Temperature: 85 °F (29 °C) • Wind: E 10 miles per hour (16 km/h) • Weather: Rainy/Cloudy
• Game attendance: 29,798
• Referee: Darryl DeBerry
• TV announcers (CBSSN): Chick Hernandez (play-by-play), Randy Cross (analyst) & Sheehan Stanwick Burch (sideline)

at Memphis

at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium • Memphis, Tennessee

• Date: September 14th
• Game time: 7:30 p.m. EST
• Game weather: Temperature: 77 °F (25 °C) • Wind: at W 5 miles per hour (8.0 km/h) • Weather: Sunny
• Game attendance: 25,551
• Referee: Kevin Randell
• TV announcers (ESPN): Matt Barrie (play-by-play), Dan Mullen (analyst) & Harry Lyles Jr. (sideline)

vs South Florida

at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, Maryland

• Date: September 30th
• Game time: 3:30 p.m. EST
• Game weather: Temperature: 72 °F (22 °C) • Wind: NE at 5 miles per hour (8.0 km/h) • Weather: Clear
• Game attendance: 29,789
• Referee: Scott Hardin
• TV announcers (CBSSN): Jordan Kent (play-by-play), Randy Cross (analyst) & Sheehan Stanwick Burch (sideline)

vs North Texas

at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, Maryland

• Date: October 7th
• Game time: 3:30 p.m. EST
• Game weather: Temperature: 64 °F (18 °C) • Wind: W at 5 miles per hour (8.0 km/h) • Weather: Cloudy
• Game attendance: 28,648
• Referee: Tim Rich
• TV announcers (CBSSN): John Sadack (play-by-play), Randy Cross (analyst) & Sheehan Stanwick Burch (sideline)

at Charlotte

at Jerry Richardson Stadium • Charlotte, North Carolina

• Date: October 14th
• Game time: 2 p.m. EST
• Game weather: Temperature: 70 °F (21 °C) • Wind: at 0 miles per hour (0 km/h) • Weather: Cloudy
• Game attendance: 15,659
• Referee: Steven Anderson
• TV announcers (ESPN+): Richard Cross (play-by-play), Taylor McHargue (analyst), Morgan Ube (sideline reporter)

vs No. 22 Air Force (Commander-in-Chief's Trophy)

at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, Maryland

• Date: October 21st
• Game time: 12:00 p.m. EST
• Game weather: Temperature: 61 °F (16 °C) • Wind: NW at 14 miles per hour (23 km/h) • Weather: Sunny
• Game attendance: 38,803
• Referee: Jonathan Noli
• TV announcers (CBS): Rich Waltz (play-by-play), Aaron Taylor (analyst), and Amanda Guerra (sideline reporter)

During halftime, the Navy honored Hall of Fame NFL quarterback and Midshipmen alum Roger Staubach surrounded by his teammates from the 1963 season who made it to the Cotton Bowl in 1964. The Naval academy painted his retired number 12 at the twelve yard line at both ends on the field, joining Navy halfback Joe Bellino's number 27.

at Temple

at Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

• Date: November 4th
• Game time: 2:00 p.m. EST
• Game weather: Temperature: 56 °F (13 °C) • Wind: SW at 3 miles per hour (4.8 km/h) • Weather: Cloudy
• Game attendance: 13,049
• Referee: Darryl DeBerry
• TV announcers (ESPN+): Noah Reed (play-by-play) and Barrett Brooks (analyst)

vs UAB

at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, Maryland

• Date: November 11th
• Game time: 3:30 p.m. EST
• Game weather: Temperature: 54 °F (12 °C) • Wind: SW at 5 miles per hour (8.0 km/h) • Weather: Clear
• Game attendance: 29,078
• Referee: Kevin Randell
• TV announcers (CBSSN): John Sadack (play-by-play), Randy Cross (analyst) & Sheehan Stanwick Burch (sideline reporter)

vs. East Carolina

at Navu-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, Maryland

• Date: November 18th
• Game time: 12:00 p.m. EST
• Game weather: Temperature: 55 °F (13 °C) • Wind: NW at 18 miles per hour (29 km/h) • Weather: Sunny
• Game attendance: 28,708
• Referee: Steven Anderson
• TV announcers (ESPNews): Mike Corey (play-by-play) and Dustin Fox (analyst)

With this victory, the Navy Midshipmen became the first FBS team to record three shutouts this season. Also, quarterback Xavier Arline set a Naval Academy record for completion percentage in a game. He completed 10 of 11 passes for 102 yards (90.9 percent). The previous record was 88.2 percent (15-17) by Marco Pagnanelli against the Duke Blue Devils on October 2, 1982.

at SMU (rivalry)

at Gerald J. Ford Stadium • Dallas, Texas

• Date: November 25th
• Game time: 12:00 p.m. EST
• Game weather: Temperature: 55 °F (13 °C) • Wind: E at 4 miles per hour (6.4 km/h) • Weather: Sunny
• Game attendance: 21,490
• Referee: Tim Rich
• TV announcers (ESPN2): Roy Philpott (play-by-play), Roddy Jones (analyst) and Taylor McGregor

vs Army (124th Army-Navy Game), (Commander-in-Chief's Trophy)

at Gillette Stadium • Foxborough, Massachusetts

• Date: December 9th
• Game time: 3:00 p.m. EST/12:00 p.m. PST
• Game weather: Temperature: • Wind: NW at 6 MPH at 51 miles per hour (82 km/h) • Weather: Cloudy
• Game attendance: 65,878
• Referee: Edwin Lee
• TV announcers (CBS): Brad Nessler (play-by-play), Gary Danielson (analyst) & Jenny Dell (sideline)

For this year's clash, Navy represented the crewmembers of Submarine warfare. Nicknamed the "Silent Service", the uniform pays tribute to the U.S. Submarine Force. The color rush uniform is covered in 'Eclipse Navy', Under Armour's darkest shade of navy blue, to mimic the covert design of a submarine hull. According to the Naval Academy website, "The overall design was intended to be simple and utilitarian to convey the stealth purposes of a submarine's design." The helmet bears an airbrushed Virginia-Class submarine on the right side and a Navy's anchor logo hand-painted with color-changing pragmatic paint on the left side.

References

1. "P.J. Volker". Navy Sports. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
2. Wagner, Bill. "Navy football officially announces hiring of Grant Chesnut as offensive coordinator, other staff moves". Stars and Stripes. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
3. "Eric Lewis and Brenten Wimberly Added to Navy Football Staff". Navy Sports. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
4. "2023 Navy Football Schedule". FBSchedules. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
5. "Air Force Box Score". navysports.com. Retrieved October 21, 2023.
6. https://navysports.com/news/2023/10/16/football-roger-staubach-to-be-honored-saturday-surrounded-by-teammates-of-the-great-1963-cotton-bowl-team.aspx
7. https://www.si.com/college/2023/11/21/army-navy-game-uniforms-2023-submarine-dogface-soldiers

• 2023 American Athletic Conference football season
• Navy Midshipmen football seasons
• 2023 in sports in Maryland